"Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving." Terry Pratchett

Christmas is over and the Silvester (= New Year's Eve) stress is drawing nearer... so I just will write about the events of the last week... one of the most horrible weeks ever!! (Although some parts were nice... )
On Tuesday I had my last exam... luckily, it was not cancelled due to snow (they started cancelling later that day). But I'm afraid I did not do very well in the exam. I hate writing essays and they are always too short... and I am not sure if I answered the questions in the way they wanted us to =_=.
Around 4 we went to the Student Bar across the street for a drink or two... but that closed at 6 because of snow so we had to buy alcohol and resume our activity at Conor's place. (That was nicer than the bar... especially because the idiots always turn up their shitty MTV music so conversation is impossible and I'm annoyed by the awful, MUCH too loud music! I prefer shitty Soap Operas and films as background noise! ^^ )
Since we started at 4, it did not take too long and I was home hat half 12 (00:30 am).... but hardly slept at all. Next day I did my laundry and packed my stuff for the next day.
I tried to order a Taxi for the next day, but they all told me there were no available and/or I had to call an hour before I wanted to leave. (great... so what if the have non available at 3am either?)... Conor was so nice and somehow ordered me one.
I spent the hours until my alarm clock was supposed to ring staring, wide awake, at my ugly furniture (I envy the guys in Roebuck Castle... those beds and cupboards there look so nice!) and trying to get a few hours of sleep until 3 am... but nothing happened. I wasn't even very excited about the flight since it did not snow when I looked out of my window and I thought the transport To the airport would be the biggest problem.
I don't know if Conor told the driver I wanted to be at the airport at 4am or if he was just early (although he was Irish!!)... but he was 20 minutes early (I panicked and shoved my laptop in my bag... but luckily I did not forget anything important... at least I didn't notice yet.)... So despite the snow on the streets, we were at the airport well on time (even by my standards!). No trouble with checking my stuff in (I just regretted I didn't buy more books... since I had only 15 kg luggage and am allowed 20.... but had no scales at home.) and Security check went fine... boarding was 1/2 hour late, so I went and bought some Guinness in the Duty Free shop... (for my Family, not for the trip xD)... we boarded... and then we we waited for different things for 1 1/2 hours on the plane... and were asked to leave the plane because the airport was closed due to snow until 12:30... I went to get a hot chocolate and Lunch (They handed out food vouchers...). But then I met someone from our plane and she told me, that our flight was cancelled.

PMS, sleep deprivation and the prospect of spending Christmas alone in that shitty apartment with no food (I had defrosted the fridge the night before and the on campus shop was closed) are not a very nice combination... I wanted to through away that stupid hot chocolate (yes, THAT bad!!). When the first hysterics were over I went to the luggage claim and stood in line for a while to get another flight to somewhere on the continent. I got one to Amsterdam... that was supposed to leave in half an hour. (When I had been unable to sleep the night before I thought about stuff as one does in that situation... and the thought " I would like to go to Amsterdam again had crossed my mind once or twice, too. Ironic!) So I kind of sprinted through security check again, ran through that huge airport... in the wrong direction. ran back... and waited in the right area for 5 hours since nothing happened there either. after that we boarded... sat in the plane for half an hour and a really bad snow shower started... and than the message came through, that the whole airport was closed for the night.
My flight was not the only one cancelled of course, so the baggage claim hall was packed with people, one could hardly breathe... or walk in a comfortable pace. I think I was a little grumpy as I run by one of the girls I knew from the Erasmus programme. Sadly, I don't even remember her name (it was complicated), so I couldn't even sent her a Facebook message and apologise... >>
well... I kind of terrorised my family for a while and my father booked me two more flights for the next day... but to the only destination that was still available: London (Ironic, isn't it? the weeks before, London had had this snow chaos). one for 6:45 and one for 9, because I heard that the airport might still be closed to 8 am if they could not clear the runway in time. I decided quickly that it would be stupid to try and leave the airport and come back in the morning... especially since my luggage took ages to appear... I found some area where they had carpet... so it wasn't too cold from underneath... but it was close to the entrance, so I was freezing anyway. but I slept for an hour or so... around half two (2:30am) I decided to give up, got a coffee at McDonalds and decided to just wait in the line where I was supposed to check in in 1 1/2 hours. good decision. standing was a challenging task at that time (tired!!), but in front and behind me were two nice Indian guys and we talked... and the crowd of people behind us grew to crazy proportions.
After my third security check in two days I went back to my gate... (same as the Berlin flight the day before)... I'm really superstitious so I made a wide circle around the hot chocolate shop...
While we waited for an hour for more passengers to arrive to fill the last empty seats, it started snowing again... but we were lucky... the plane actually left this time (I actually felt like applauding! >> )
My father had watched the announced progress of the plane on the internet at home and booked me a flight from London to Germany as soon as it was sure that I would actually get to London. After all the chaos they had in Heathrow the previous weeks, the area seemed to be surprisingly snow-free and the airport was almost empty (who wants to travel on Christmas Eve?).
The only flight my father could get on such short notice was one, where only business class tickets were left... of course very expensive... but I enjoyed the waiting time in the Business lounge... and the (very necessary!!) shower! They had very good coffee and food there... complementary... and free wifi!
The flight itself was, again, an hour late... and I really did not enjoy it, despite the rather good food on actual porcelain dishes, for two main reasons: 1. I had a train to catch from Berlin to Jena, the last one that night and 2.: as I already noticed during the flight to London: flying sucks when you are sick... the pressure hurts badly in the ears!... and of course it is hard to enjoy when you know that this cost an arm and a leg.
The train, again, was late (40 minutes), but it was okay... I probably would have made it in time... (Business class sends out ones luggage directly after the one of disabled people and families with infants.) but it was okay... especially since I had to buy my ticket first.
In Jena they had about 30 cm new snow that day and night... but my father managed to pick me up at the airport... there were, of course, no taxis available.
My family had waited for me with our Christmas Eve dinner... I felt bad, because I know how quickly my mothers blood sugar level drops and we were home around 22:30... so basically my journey took 43 hours.
But one good thing: I didn't feel tired any more... I kind of reached the other side of tiredness where you feel like you could go on for a few more days without sleep. (of course my head hardly touched my pillow before I fell asleep that night...)
But ever since then I feel like I had a bad Jet Lag... and since we had to postpone the Christmas Eve ritual to the 25th and visits from and to family the next two days, I did not find the time to catch up the lost sleep yet. And tomorrow we go to the sea over New Years... I hope I don't fall asleep during Harry Potter tonight... I already watched it in English...
We were told to bring sport shoes to the Silvester celebrations... I think I will pack my new Tabi-boots and try them out. And I have to take my, also new, portable drive to exchange audio books with my cousin. (speaking of new and Audio Books: my brother gave me 6 Neil Gaiman stories audio books for Christmas!! ^^))
I will try and upload a few pictures to the older posts, too. Now that I can use all kinds of data transfer methods, it should be possible
I know I'm kind of behind on my correspondences... so to everybody who's emails and such I have not yet answered: I'm sorry and will try to get round to it soon.
I wish you all a great New Year's Eve and an even better new year!

So... if you read to down here: congratulations and thank you for your interest. If you tell me your name under "write", I will bring you a crappy souvenir from Ireland in Spring. If you ARE Irish, you can have something from Germany xD